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Thursday, August 25, 2011

In the past year, Michelle Obama has spent nearly one million dollars per month of our tax money. Let that soak in for a second; while the people of this country suffer massive unemployment -- and while the lucky ones, who have jobs, continue to see their wages confiscated by the IRS -- Mrs. Obama has been living a life of obscene luxury, and we're paying for it!

The National Enquirer is reporting that the First Lady has squandered over $10 million in the past year, all on vacations fit for a queen. That is not hard to believe considering her extravagant tastes. She stays at the most expensive hotels around, has expensive massages, drinks only top-shelf alcohol, and lives it up like money is no object. It's always easy when someone else is footing the bill.

This latest trip to Martha's Vineyard is a prime example. Not content to wait a few hours for her husband to make the trip, our version of Marie Antoinette insisted on flying four hours prior to Barack, a separate flight and subsequent motorcade for each spouse, and all the expenses those trips incurred. Renting the Blue Heron Farm property alone cost us $50,000 for one week. All told, this woman has racked up 42 days of vacation time in the past year. Do you get 6 weeks of vacation?

President Bush was excoriated by the left for his vacation time, yet even I don't begrudge the current president some needed rest. What I do object to, however, -- and I'm disappointed in the media for their lack of engagement here -- is the unseemly appearance of it all in the face of our economic malaise. Defenders of this president will invariably ask, "Well, where would you have him go on vacation if you have a problem with this?"

My response, of course, given the state of the nation at this point, is anywhere that doesn't give the American people the wrong message. That message, obviously, is that the president and his wife care not a whit about our suffering, nor do they care about spending our hard earned money on their personal pleasure. There is a place they could have that would have been more palatable to the electorate, though, a beautiful place with accommodations for all the staff that accompanies the first couple, and more security than could ever be provided on the road.

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A First Couple in Tune with America

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﻿﻿That place is Camp David, the official American Presidential retreat. It﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿ has served past presidents well, but seems to not be on the Obamas' preferred destination list. Perhaps that's because it's nestled in the middle of "flyover country". In June of 2010, the media was reporting that no president has spent less time there than Obama.

Officially known as the Naval Support Facility Thurmont, Camp David is located in the Catoctin Mountains approximately 60 miles north-northwest of Washington, D.C. It is primarily staffed by U.S. Navy and U.S. Marines. It doesn't get much more secure than that.

The Obamas could have gone there on this particular vacation -- when most Americans are pinching pennies -- with a considerably smaller entourage of staffers and saved us a bundle. The trip also could have been made in less than an hour aboard Marine One.

Instead, the Obama's saw fit to double down on the cost of this trip in an in-your-face kind of way, completely disregarding the appearance of royalty. And while there, as people beg for jobs, Obama tells the people that he has a plan, and we'll have to wait for his vacation to be over before he'll tell us what that plan is. If that isn't the epitome of arrogance, I don't know what is, and the behavior is exhibited equally by both Obama's.

They have exacerbated a faltering economy through devastating incompetence and still they live a life of bliss, oblivious to the world around them. From lavish vacations to posh soirees in the White House, life to the first family is one big party, all while people see their fortunes disintegrate. It is time that the media and a large portion of the electorate wake up and realize what is happening to this country.